Stamford Earliest Baseball Record C. 1860-1880
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Stamford Earliest Baseball Record c. 1860-1880 The origins of baseball are murky. Some believe baseball was invented by a single individual, while others think that it evolved through a series of children’s games. Either way, it is likely that some form of baseball was played in Stamford as early as the 1840s, especially given its proximity to New York City, but no record remains. The first mention of baseball’s being played in Stamford occurs in December 8, 1865 news column in the Stamford Advocate. On December 2, 1865 a team of schoolboys representing Stamford played against a Norwalk team defeating them 38 to 23. The game was played on a field on Summer Street. The game was apparently well attended. The column noted this was the third annual contest between the towns. It is well established that immediately after the Civil War, baseball playing became a widespread pastime. Despite its popularity among the younger set, it was games played by grown men that attracted the public’s attention. The first record of a Stamford Baseball Club occurs in 1866 when a team was founded to compete against area clubs from area towns and clubs as far away as Philadelphia. Stamford’s chief rival team at this point remained that of Norwalk who called themselves the Norwalk “Muffins”. Gloves were not initially used and rules were fluid, resulting in high scores. Five outs rather than three were often used. Of the games recorded in that first season of 1866 the Philadelphia Bachelors routed Stamford 21-12 and Norwalk twice defeated Stamford by large scores: 47-16 and 35-12. In September of that year Stamford managed to defeat Norwalk by a similarly large margin: 54-37. Local games were often followed by elaborate celebrations at which both the winner and loser would feast on meals of several courses. The games drew literally thousands of people and teams, traveling by train, were often met in style by their opponents at the station. The teams and their games became focal points for the communities they represented. Although the sponsorship of teams was not firmly footed initially, and an Advocate column of 1869 bemoans the absence of an established baseball club in Stamford during that particular year, baseball’s popularity was growing. Throughout the 1870s mention is made of additional Stamford teams facing off against neighboring towns. With the establishment of manufacturing industries in Stamford starting in 1869 with Yale & Towne, company teams began to appear as well. These early teams helped forge communities as all citizens could root for their players regardless of differences in class, occupation or neighborhood. The First Industrial Team c. 1885 With the conversion of the economy of Stamford from a primarily agrarian to an increasingly industrialized base, more men found leisure time available to play sports. In June 1885, Yale & Towne, one of Stamford’s largest employers, is recorded as forming its first team. Their team played against any clubs desirous of a challenge. Games were played at then privately owned Woodside Park (now Scalzi Park). A 15 cent admission fee was charged although ladies and carriages were free. The money was used to pay the rent for use of the field. It was during the 1880s that team organizers began to look more at how to finance teams, increasingly focusing on ticket sales and gate receipts. During 1885 the fledging Yale & Towne team challenged the Bridgeport Professionals, a pro team drawn from the best players in the state. Predictably Y &T lost 11-0. Nevertheless the popularity of baseball continued to grow and a number of seasons were played in the 1880s until the first Y & T team disbanded. Baseball Established c. 1890-1902 There seems to have been a hiatus in baseball’s popularity after the disbanding of the first Y &T team. However, games continued to be played by the area private schools, King and Betts Academy and in other towns other factories started company teams often luring players from Stamford. Organizers of teams were trying to draw the best players and gambling became common at games in the 1890s. In the midst of this flurry of activity one man stands out as the true founder of established baseball in Stamford and that is Jimmy Giblin. Giblin founded the Hoytville team in the mid 1890s. The team, formed from older kids in the Hoytville neighborhood, became one of the strongest in the area and its success caused other neighborhoods in Stamford to found their own teams. The friendly competition between neighborhood teams often provided the key means by which kids got to know one another. As neighborhoods in Stamford in this era corresponded to ethnicities, teams of Irish kids played teams of Italian kids or Polish kids. As the kids grew older they would find themselves on teams of mixed ethnicities playing with people they knew from their youth. In this manner, these teams provided a ‘social cement’ that helped to forge a single community out of the diverse neighborhoods. Jimmy Giblin was a driving force of this process By 1899, he ran the Stamford Baseball Club, organizing and managing the team, as well as serving a pitcher. In 1901 he played on the Stamford Athletics, the town entry in the short-lived CT Southern League. The league included teams from Stamford, Norwalk, Winnipank, Danbury and Bridgeport and had a 10 game schedule. The game admission fee remained 15 cents and attendance was crucial since home teams had to pay the travel fees of visitors as well as umpires. The 1901 season ended in a championship for Stamford, but unfortunately the league folded in July of 1902 because of a dispute between Norwalk and Bridgeport’s teams. The Stamford team continued to play, booking games against teams from Connecticut and New York including the New York City “All Professionals” and the “Colored Giants” an all black baseball team. Some of these games, usually played on Sundays, attracted up to 6000 spectators. Teams from other towns continued to be met at the train station with brass band and crowds. A Profusions of Teams and Leagues: Stamford Baseball’s Golden Age 1917- 1948 Sport columnist Bob Kennedy has identified the period from 1917-48 as the Golden Age of Stamford baseball. The era was marked by the founding of the Industrial League in the teens and also by the Twilight League in 1932 (which was to endure until 2007). During the early 40s the Stamford Pioneers played at Mitchell field and later Stamford’s first pro team: the Stamford Bombers, a Class B team in the short lived Colonial League, was organized in 1947. The founding of the Industrial League in 1916 provided one more means by which people from different backgrounds began to interact with one another through sport. The league included teams sponsored by Stamford Rolling Mills, Yale &Towne, New Haven Railroad and Pitney Bowes. Yale & Towne’s team was drawn from players in its own eight team in-house adult league that existed from 1914- 30. In addition to the Industrial League, club teams played in their own organized groups. These teams included many organized by athletic clubs including Sound Beach, Cove, Sacred Heart, West Side and after 1925 Holy Name, one of the strongest clubs. All competed for the City Championship. At this time factories would hire some employees based on the strength of the baseball playing. It was not unusual for some players to serve on a number of teams at once. It was during the 1920s that Stamford High’s Baseball team began to win notoriety with star players like pitcher Paul Kuczo and infielder John Scalzi. The 1923 and 1924 seasons were high points for Kuczo, Scalzi and the SHS team coached by Mike Boyle. The team posted 19 wins and 5 losses over these seasons. Kuczo went on pitch on winning Villanova teams before returning to Stamford High where he became an assistant coach to Boyle until 1936 when he became head coach of the baseball squad. Scalzi continued his play at Georgetown and upon his graduation was hired by the professional Boston Braves. An injury ended his career in his first season though he later played professional football as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers and also coached football at Manhattan College and Columbia U. Ed Hunt, another former SHS athlete, joined the Stamford Recreation Department in 1924, and became the superintendent by 1929. Hunt saw sport as a way to productively engage Stamford’s youth and began a recreation league for young people which would ultimately pave the way for the Little League teams of the 1950s. Recreation teams included the Red Devils and the Lone Stars. Hunt’s rec. teams were organized by neighborhoods, much like the teams in Giblin’s day. Hunt also coordinated the competitions of the amateur adult leagues. This was formalized in 1932 with the founding of the Twilight League for adult players. All Twilight League games were played at Cummings Park on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Five teams made up the league at first: the University Club, Stamford Gas &Electric A.C., the Tasti-Mallow Baseball Club, the West Side A.C. and the Stamford All Stars. By the 1980s the Twilight League would boast 13 clubs. The Stamford Pioneers began their play at Mitchell Field in 1941. The field, razed in the 1950s, was an enclosed stadium on Magee Avenue. John Scalzi managed the club and booked semi-pro and pro teams as opponents including teams from the International and Negro Leagues. The Pioneers were so good that they managed to defeat the National League’s St.